MUSIC MAGAZINE EVALUATIONAS Media Coursework

1: IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

After analysing Q magazine previously, I felt the layout of that magazine was the same direction that I wanted to follow in my music magazine creation.

However, my media product does challenge the forms and conventions that are projected in Q magazine.

I chose the name ‘Airplay’, which is the term given to how many times a song is played on the radio. This reflects my reader who keeps up to date with new songs of most genres.

For my masthead, I used ‘Edwardian Script’. This challenges the conventions of a media product such as Q because they use strong, bold lettering such as ‘Arial’. Adding a purple glow to my masthead also challenges conventions because the masthead usually has one main colour that stands out on its own. I used the glow to link in with the house style colours of my magazine.

However, Q magazine does make its masthead stand out by using a bright background, so in some ways, my media product develops that idea.

Q Magazine inspired me to use the 3 colour house style rule, originally I used red/pink, black and white. However, I felt the red/pink was not flattering to my models colouring and it was also harder to read the main cover line against the image background.

My main image follows the conventions of a real media product such as Q magazine because there are no smaller images covering it and this makes the magazine on a whole, look more sophisticated.

My models pose personifies my readership profile of independent young women very well.

I didn’t want my models to be too ‘smiley’ because I was afraid it would come across as ‘cheesy-pop’

It would’ve made them look like young girls, rather than young women.

All the clothing shown can be found in high-street stores, which reflects my reader.

I chose monochrome clothing to emphasise the purple on the page and also to give the magazine some edge.

The titles and fonts are conventional to a real media product as Q magazine use a simple but bold font to emphasise the content of the magazine.

In my interview, I stuck to conventional style questions about gossip, relationships whilst trying to gain an insight into a famous music artists everyday life. I challenged conventions shown in the Lady Gaga interview in Q magazine whose questions were more like statements. However, my act wasn’t as successful at Lady Gaga therefore they would know less about the music industry and would be caught up in the excitement of being newly found music artists.

My media product follows conventions in Q magazine regarding the double page spread because I have made these two images the main feature of the article, which Q does in their Lady gaga article, using one whole page for one image.

Including a ‘Editors’ note’ on my contents page. These are usually found in fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Company and Vogue. I included this because my reader has passions such as fashion and beauty and therefore there is a association between the two.

The use of bold numbers on screenshots of my articles on my contents page develops conventions of Q magazine because they use the same features on their contents page. This makes the page look more visual rather than a lot of bulky text.

2: HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ?

My media product represents a group of young, independent women, interested in music, fashion and beauty.

I achieved this buy using feminine clothing (dresses and high heels)

Including ‘100 Hottest Men In Music’ article with pictures of good-looking men which are bound to attract attention from my reader.

3: WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?

The kind of media institution that would distribute my media product would probably be the Bauer Media Group.

This is because they publish Q magazine which is similar in style and layout to my media product.

4:WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The audience for my media product would be a group of young, edgy women who are very independent regarding careers.

They have a passionate desire for fashion, beauty and music.

They appreciate the ‘oldies’ but love listening to new songs on their favourite radio station or their iPod.

To personify this, it could be said that my audience emulates the group of women from the popular TV sitcom and movie franchise, Sex and the City.

5:HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCE ? Used a feminine font

Used feminine clothing (dresses, tights, high heels)

Included an article to catch the attention by displaying good-looking men

Feminine font

Feminine colours

Feminine font and colours

Feminine clothing

Quote about music, represents reader’s passion for music

Editors note, usually found in fashion magazines, another passion of my reader

Female band, represents independent women

Good-looking guys, an obvious attraction

Fashion Feminine font

Feminine coloursFashionMusic amp

Music sheets

6:WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

Throughout this process, I have learnt how to use or develop my skills further in using...

TECHNOLOGY USED

My laptop was useful because I could store, edit and put copies of my work onto the blog.

PowerPoint software was useful because I could create visually appealing slideshows to present my work to my class or to put on my blog.

Fireworks was useful because I could edit the pages of my magazine easily because of the correct template measurements.

TECHNOLOGY USED

Picnik was useful because I was able to edit photographs quickly and easily as it is an online service which is free.

Blogger was useful because I could document my progress throughout my task.

My camera was useful because I was able to take my own photos and the good quality meant they were good enough to use without much editing.

TECHNOLOGY USED

Slideshare was useful because it allowed me to upload slideshows onto my blog easily as Blogger does not support PowerPoint files.

Windows Movie Maker was useful because I was able to make short films about my work which is a more visual appealing to an audience than a bunch of text

7:LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK (THE SCHOOL MAGAZINE TASK), WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO FULL PRODUCT?

Positioning of text against a main image – to make sure they are in balance with each other and can be read easily.

Visual aids of images to display the articles made me realise how to make the page more visually appealing.

I learnt in my music magazine how to make the main cover-line stand out better.